Asm. Roger Dickinson

Existing law, the Dills Act, includes various provisions governing state employer-employee relations. In addition, the existing Bill of Rights for State Excluded Employees prescribes various rights and terms and conditions of employment for excluded employees, defined as certain supervisory, managerial, and confidential state employees. This bill would enact the Safety Accountability Fairness and Efficiency Act for Public Employees (the S.A.F.E. Act for Public Employees) that would apply to state employees. This bill would, among other things, require each employer to honor the memorandum of understanding under which each employee is covered. The bill would prohibit the standardization of work required within a specified period of time. This bill would also require the formation of peer review committees for professional staff to provide input regarding workplace operations, as specified. Existing law requires notice of any adverse action against any state employee for any cause for discipline based on any civil service law to be served within 3 years after the cause for discipline, upon which the notice is based, first arose. Existing law provides that an adverse action based on fraud, embezzlement, or the falsification of records is valid if notice of the adverse action is served within 3 years after the discovery of the fraud, embezzlement, or falsification. This bill would instead require, except as specified, notice of an adverse action against a state employee for a cause of disipline based on any civil service law of the state to be served and the investigation to be completed within one year after the cause for discipline was first discovered in order for the adverse action to be valid against the state employee.

Existing law, the Johnston-Baker-Andal-Boatwright Delta Protection Act of 1992, requires the Delta Protection Commission to review and maintain a comprehensive long-term resource management plan for land uses within the primary zone, as defined, of the Delta. Existing law authorizes any person who is aggrieved by any action taken by a local government or other local agency in implementing the resource management plan to file an appeal with the commission, or for the commission to review, in the absence of an appeal by an aggrieved person, the action taken. Existing law requires the commission to review the action on the grounds that the action as to land located exclusively within the primary zone is inconsistent with the resource management plan, the approved portions of local government general plans that implement the resource management plan, or specified law. Existing law requires the appeal to be heard by the commission, as prescribed, unless the commission, either itself or by delegation to the executive director, determines that the issue raised on appeal is not within the commission's jurisdiction or does not raise an appealable issue. This bill would require the executive director to determine a discretionary project located in the primary zone to be consistent with the resource management plan provided that the project satisfies at least 4 of 5 specified criteria.

(1) Existing law authorizes the use of the term "California grown" and similar terms for marketing, advertising, or promotional purposes only to identify food or agricultural products that have been produced in the state or harvested in its surface or coastal waters, and makes the fraudulent use of the term or a deliberately misleading or unwarranted use of the term a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $3,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 6 months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. This bill would make it unlawful for any person or entity to intentionally make any statement, representation, or assertion relating to the sale or availability of agricultural products that is false, deceptive, or misleading, as specified, and would make a violation of those provisions a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, by a fine not exceeding $2,500, or both the fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture or a county agricultural commissioner, in lieu of prosecution, to levy a civil penalty, as specified, or take action against a license, permit, registration, or certification issued pursuant to the Food and Agricultural Code. The bill would make those penalties applicable to the fraudulent use of the term "California grown," as specified above. The bill would require the civil penalties collected by a county agricultural commissioner to be paid to the county treasurer, and would require civil penalties collected by the secretary to be deposited in the Direct Agricultural Marketing Penalty Account, which would be created in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, as continuously appropriated funds to be used to conduct investigations and enforcement actions relating to false, deceptive, or misleading statements relating to agricultural products, and for other specified purposes. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law regulates the direct marketing of agricultural products, and provides for various findings and declaration in that regard. Existing law authorizes the secretary to adopt regulations relating to the direct marketing of agricultural products, authorizes a county agricultural commissioner to issue a certified farmers' market certificate, and requires the county agricultural commissioner to inspect certified farmers' markets within his or her jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes a county agricultural commissioner to charge certification and inspection fees, and provides for the assessment of penalties and fines relating to the certification, inspection, and regulation of certified farmers' markets. These fees and penalties are deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and are required to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for related administrative and regulatory purposes. This bill would define the terms "producer" and "agricultural product" for purposes of the provisions relating to direct marketing. The bill would authorize the secretary to contract with any county agricultural commissioner's office for purposes relating to the direct marketing of agricultural products, and would authorize compensation to be paid under those contracts from funds derived from assessments and fees collected pursuant to the provisions relating to direct marketing. The bill would authorize a certified farmers' market operator to contract with a county agricultural commissioner's office for verification inspections, as specified. (3) Existing law specifies that certified farmers' markets are locations established in accordance with local ordinances, and requires the governing board of a certified farmers' market with more than one participating certified producer to adopt written rules and procedures pertaining to the operation of the certified farmers' market. This bill would instead provide that certified farmers' markets are California agricultural product point of sale locations that are registered and operated in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would require vendors of agricultural products selling within a certified farmers' market to comply with specified signage and labeling requirements, and would make those representations subject to criminal, civil, and administrative penalties, as specified. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal provisions authorizing an aggrieved certified producer to submit a request to the department for an advisory opinion, and for the department to issue the advisory opinion, and would repeal provisions requiring the department to provide for an informal hearing process for grievances relating to certified farmers' markets. (4) Existing law requires the secretary to establish the Certified Farmers' Market Advisory Committee. This bill would specifically limit the duties of that committee to all matters relating to certified farmers' markets, as specified. The bill would decrease the number of members on the committee from 17 members to 14 members, as specified. The bill would repeal the provisions relating to the Certified Farmers' Market Advisory Committee on January 1, 2015. (5) Existing law requires a certified farmers' market certificate to be obtained from a county agricultural commissioner, and authorizes the county agricultural commissioner to assess a fee for the certificate and for inspections, as specified. This bill would repeal those provisions and instead would require an operator of a certified farmers' market to annually register with the department, and would require the county agricultural commissioner to issue a certified farmers' market certificate upon registration. The bill would require a California producer to register with the department and obtain a certified producer's certificate. The bill would require a California producer to submit specified information to the department, including, among other things, a list of facilities at which their product was processed, as specified, and would require, until January 1, 2016, each operator of a certified farmers' market to remit to the department an investigation and enforcement fee, as specified. The bill would require the investigation and enforcement fee to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund as a continuously appropriated fund to be used to pursue and conduct investigations and enforcement actions, as specified. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (6) Existing law requires, until January 1, 2014, that every operator of a certified farmers' market remit to the department a fee equal to the number of certified producer certificates and other agricultural producers participating on each market day for the entire previous quarter, which shall be used by the department upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. This bill would instead require, until January 1, 2016, a program fee equal to the number of vendors participating and selling goods under the authority and management of the certified farmers' market operator on each market day for the entire previous quarter to be remitted to the department. (7) Because the bill would create new crimes, and by imposing new requirements on county agricultural commissioners, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Existing law, the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services Matching Grant Program, authorizes the Director of Mental Health, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to award matching grants to local educational agencies to pay the state share of the costs of providing programs that provide school-based early mental health intervention and prevention services to eligible pupils at schoolsites of eligible pupils, in accordance with specified criteria. This bill would impose a tax upon retailers for the privilege of selling ammunition at the rate of 10% of the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale of ammunition sold at retail in this state on or after July 1, 2014. It would also impose a comparable excise tax on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of ammunition purchased from a retailer for the storage, use, or other consumption in this state, as provided. The taxes would be collected pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would require that revenues collected pursuant to these taxes be deposited in the Ammunition Tax Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the Ammunition Tax Fund to be allocated in specified percentages to the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services Matching Grant Program, and to the Public Safety Emergency Prevention Fund, which the bill would create. This bill would require the moneys in the Public Safety Emergency Prevention Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the Office of Emergency Services to fund public safety programs in high crime municipalities. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, and would create crimes for specified retailer misconduct, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law provides for the California Exposition and State Fair as a separate, independent entity in the state government. Existing law provides that the governing body of the California Exposition and State Fair shall be an 11-member board of directors. Existing law requires the board of directors to appoint a general manager, and to submit an annual report to the Legislature and the Governor, as specified. Existing law establishes 4-year terms for each member of the board of directors, and requires vacancies that occur during the term to be filled by the appointing authority, as specified, for the remainder of the term. Existing law sets forth the board of directors' powers and duties, including, among others, the power to contract, and authorizes the board, with the approval of the Department of General Services, to purchase, acquire, or hold real or personal property. Existing law requires the board of directors to maintain an account at a financial institution to deposit funds received by the California Exposition and State Fair and specifies that all funds maintained in the account are continuously appropriated to the board, without regard to fiscal year, for purposes relating to the California Exposition and State Fair. This bill would require a director whose term has expired to continue to discharge his or her duties until a successor has been appointed. The bill would limit the costs and assessments of the California Exposition and State Fair to personnel costs and costs rendered pursuant to specified contracts entered into with other state agencies. The bill would revise the information the California Exposition and State Fair is required to report annually, and would require the information to be reported to the Governor only. The bill would require the California Exposition and State Fair's books and accounts to be examined and reviewed annually and audited once every 5 years, as specified. The bill would revise the board of directors' powers to appoint police to keep and preserve order and would require the board to delegate this power to officers and employees of the California Exposition and State Fair. The bill would revise the powers of the board of directors and Department of General Services with respect to real and personal property, and would specify that title, control, and possession of all personal property acquired, held, managed, or operated by the California Exposition and State Fair vests with the California Exposition and State Fair. The bill would also specify that the proceeds of any lease, sale, or other agreement shall become the property of the California Exposition and State Fair and shall be available to the fair, as specified. By increasing moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would express various findings of the Legislature, and would revise a statement of the Legislature's intent regarding the California Exposition and State Fair. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Medi-Cal Act establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would instead require that, to the extent permitted by federal law, this payment reduction not apply to skilled nursing facilities or subacute care units that are a distinct part of a general acute care hospital, intermediate care or other specified facilities serving developmentally disabled individuals, or specified Medi-Cal provider payments for fee-for-service benefits, including payments to pharmacies, for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also provide that this payment reduction shall not apply to managed health care plans for dates of service after the effective date of the bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. This bill would impose a tax upon retailers for the privilege of selling ammunition, as defined, at the rate of $0.05 per item of ammunition sold at retail in this state on or after January 1, 2014. It would also impose a complemental excise tax on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of ammunition purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, as provided. The tax would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would require that revenues collected pursuant to these taxes be allocated to the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services Matching Grant Program. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law authorizes specified entities to receive state summary criminal history information from the Department of Justice. Existing law also requires mandated reporters, as defined, to report child abuse and neglect to local law enforcement. This bill would require the department to provide state summary criminal history information to the director of a community youth athletics program, or his or her designee, for the purposes of screening volunteers or employees who are left alone with minors and would prohibit a person from having access to minors as an employee or volunteer if the person has been convicted of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, a crime of child abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence. The bill would provide that completing the background check does not limit the liability of a mandated reporter.

The California Constitution provides that the Legislature may by statute prohibit retirement board investments if it is in the public interest to do so, and providing that the prohibition satisfies specified fiduciary standards. Existing law prohibits the boards of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from investing public employee retirement funds in a company with active business operations in Sudan and Iran, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit the Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System from investing public employee retirement funds in a company with business operations that are described as the manufacture of firearms or ammunition, as specified. The bill would require the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement Board of the State Teachers' Retirement System to sell or transfer any investments in a company with these business operations. This bill would require these boards to report to the Legislature any investments in a company with these business operations and the sale or transfer of those investments, subject to the fiduciary duty of these boards, by January 1, 2015, and every year thereafter.